Papa, and the Gift of Growth
by Hymntanra
Summary: Summary: When she greeted him at the door, Lania made a slip of the tongue that even she doesn't notice. Phantom, of course, is understandably confused. Maybe, he realizes, maybe things have changed a bit. Implied PhanLumi, but mostly friendship/family.


Papa, and the Gift of Growth

When Phantom first saw Lania's house, the first thing he thought was how quiet and quaint it was. He had never expected to see such a calming little home in a place little Ellin Forest—but it wasn't Ellin Forest anymore. It was Ellinia, home of fairies and people alike. The town itself was run by a human, albeit a very old one. This forest was safer now, and it allowed a little girl to live safely in a small cottage outside of town. A cottage that, admittedly, was easy to miss. It was hidden by a slew of thick green trees and extraordinary leaves. The house was almost like a jungle animal; a person could pass right by it and never notice it was there.

But what a sight it was when a person DID come upon it!

Granted, Phantom had been looking for it. He wasn't exactly the kind of person to just wander around Ellinia aimlessly with no purpose. The thief had better things to do than go on nature walks just for the hell of it. No, he had come here on a mission. Not a mission provided by the Alliance or anything, no…this was a mission solely for his own gain. Though Phantom's mind kept nagging at him, asking what in the world he WOULD gain from pulling this kind of stunt. A fist in the face, perhaps? Or maybe a fine trip to the hospital due to the numerous injuries that Luminous would gladly give him without a second thought?

_Ally my ass. _

Phantom couldn't exactly figure on why he was seeking out Luminous, not really. Cygnus had mentioned that the man was part of the Alliance now, but he seemed to never show up for meetings. It was frustrating, because even though the mage finished his missions properly, it was like he didn't want anything to do with the rest of the members. Like he was better than them…or afraid of them. Phantom had never been the best at discerning what went on in that nutty head of his. And if rumor held true, Luminous' nuttiness had gone through the roof in the last 300 years.

Phantom couldn't really make any big talk over Luminous, though. He himself had avoided joining any organization—he'd even avoided meeting up with the other Heroes. Criticizing Luminous' actions, he supposed, was a tad bit hypocritical. But Phantom did so none-the-less. Luminous had always been a bit of a sore issue with him anyways…anything to start shit with him would be good enough for the thief.

But he knew, really, that he hadn't come to this cute little house to start shit with Luminous. Maybe the man would end up just being another Mercedes for him—someone he had never really been too close to, but could now be seen as one of the few things left over from his own time. It was a time that he both missed and did not mourn…but it did hurt to know it was gone. And having people to talk to about it was nice. Luminous, though…it was a bit of an odd choice to want to talk to Luminous.

Although, when a 12 year old girl answered his knock on the door, Phantom didn't even know if he was in the right place. He opened his mouth slightly, and tried to look around her shoulder; he didn't see anyone behind her besides a cat that didn't look so happy. So the thief focused his attention on the little girl. She was a sweet looking child—big blue eyes and flaxen blonde hair tied in a braid. The warm brown colors of her dress complimented her red hair bow very well. Most importantly, she held a welcoming and friendly smile on her face despite her formal posture.

"Hello." She said. Her voice was as sweet as honey and almost made the thief smile. He controlled himself, though; he WAS here on business. Sort of. Although…he couldn't quite figure out who this girl was, and why she was here. She was far too young to be a girlfriend. Not that Phantom could ever imagine Luminous keeping a genuine romantic relationship with anyone. "Can I help you?"

"Oh. My name is Phantom." He bowed her head a bit to her in affirmation and the little girl giggled a bit, shaking his hand. She seemed highly amused by the man. "I'm here to visit an old…friend. His name is Luminous. Could you possibly direct me to him?"

"Luminous?" She said questioningly. "Papa Lumi?"

_Papa?! _

Phantom stared at the girl incredulously and she stared back in pure confusion. Papa? Was this girl related to Luminous? Was she really his…his DAUGHTER? Phantom couldn't imagine Luminous with a wife, much less with a CHILD. The girl didn't particularly LOOK like Luminous either. But Phantom figured that could be because she looked more like her mother. Whoever THAT was. The thief had to admit that he was rather curious as to who could not only get Luminous to make love AND produce a child. The idea alone would have made him laugh if his current situation wasn't so awkward.

_Why Papa LUMI, though? _

"Is something wrong, sir?" She asked nervously. Well, she was at least fairly polite. "You don't look well. Maybe you should come in and sit down…I'll make you some nice soothing tea, okay?"

"Uh, no, that's quite unnecessary—" Phantom tried to protest, but he was all but dragged into the cottage. The little girl sat him down on a couch in the living room, right next to a very angry looking cat. It hissed at the thief, but the little girl gave the animal a little smack on the head and it desisted.

"Don't be rude to our guest, Penny!" She scolded, then she smiled widely at Phantom. "What kind of tea would you like? Oolong? Herbal? I have a nice hibiscus tea that I've wanted to try out. I think it works wonders for dizziness. At least, I think that's what it says on the box…I don't know, Luminous always does the cooking…"

_Now back to Luminous. Who IS this kid? Do kids often call their parents by their first name?_ Phantom wondered incredulously. _Well, it HAS been 300 years…maybe things have changed? I can't see Luminous not requiring his child to call him by a formal name, though…_

"Sir?"

"Oh, uh, hibiscus is fine." Phantom said lamely. The girl nodded and padded off to her kitchen. "Uh, hey!"

"Hmm?" She turned around to look at the thief curiously.

"Uh, I didn't catch your name?"

"Oh! My name is Lania." She smiled brightly and popped back into the kitchen to prepare the tea kettle. Phantom, meanwhile, just tapped his finger against his knee in frustration. He couldn't figure this situation out. The thief didn't particularly see Luminous as someone to start a family, and he didn't see any wife around. Of course, that didn't mean anything—Luminous was out, so the wife could be out too. Phantom figured he had never really known much about the mage anyways. Who was he to judge if this was what Luminous did or didn't want? It was just…unexpected.

It was so…domestic.

It would have made Phantom laugh, if the situation wasn't so weird.

A whistle in the kitchen shook him out of his thoughts; minutes later, the little girl walked out into the hall with a breezy smile on her face. In her hands were two small cups assumedly full of tea. The cups were as cute as the rest of the house, decorated with pink and blue bird patterns and roses. The girl handed him the one with the rose design, and sat down opposite of him to sip at her own tea. Tentatively, Phantom took a sip and tried to control his facial features—it was the most sugar-laden tea he'd ever tasted.

"So…Lania." He began. She looked at him with an open expression, mixing her tea with a small silver spoon. "Do you live here all alone?"

"Not all alone. Penny is here, and so is that weird spirit friend of his. And that weird robot. But Vieren's resting right now—he can't be out of Harmony forever. And Sentrobo is…" Lania made a face. "…he's, uh, down for the day. So it's just me and Penny today. Luminous comes by sometimes, but not so much anymore…"

Silence overtook the two. The little girl looked so incredibly sad that it almost plucked at Phantom's own heartstrings. She seemed very upset…but he figured any normal child would be at the loss of time with their 'Papa'. He didn't fully understand the situation but it was hard to not feel sorry for such a delicate little thing. She was obviously just a little girl caught up in a big situation that she wasn't fully aware of.

Or maybe she was. Phantom really had no room to judge.

"That's too bad. Do you know when he'll be back?" Phantom asked. He knew his reply was heartless and not very helpful, but there wasn't much he could do. At least the sad look disappeared off of her face, replaced with the usual cheerful expression.

"He's visiting today! He hasn't been able to schedule himself to be home at any certain day, not usually. But he said that today he'd be home to visit me and Penny and Vieren!" The girl seemed ecstatic. "…I know, really, that it's a weird situation for him. He doesn't remember much. After all, 300 years ago, I was the one taking care of him. But that changed…and I think I like it better this way. I was just a little kid back then, too, and I was looking for an adult to help me out then too…yeah. I like 'Papa' better."

_What in the world is she talking about?_ Phantom thought, utterly bewildered. _Is she saying she was alive 300 years ago? That she knew Luminous then? But that would be ridiculous. If she had known Luminous, she would have known the Heroes too. And I've never seen this kid before in my life._

"You look confused."

"A little bit." Phantom admitted. "I…how do I explain this? I was friends with Luminous, back 300 years ago. So if you were alive 300 years ago…I figured that I would have known you, right? But I guess that's a brash assumption to make, isn't it…I guess you're just lucky to be put in this situation where you can be a happy family, like you wanted?"

"…I don't know what I wanted then. I remember things, but I don't think I'm the same person as 'Lucia'." Phantom had no idea what the hell she was talking about but he listened anyways. The girl had, however, narrowed her eyes when she let the last word slip off her tongue. "…How can I trust you?"

"You don't have to."

"Hmm…" She mused. "I'm going to go turn Sentrobo on…"

The girl hurried out the door. Phantom stared after her. What was wrong now? She had obviously let something important slip out of her mind, but he didn't know what she was talking about. Perhaps, he figured, perhaps the girl thought he was working for the Black Mage. There wasn't a way in hell that Luminous had avoided talking to her about that bastard, especially with the Alliance in action. She seemed to know something…but Phantom cast it off as 'not his business'. Because it wasn't.

She came back several hours later, with another person in tow.

Luminous.

The man looked rather hassled; Phantom doubted it was the girl, but rather the fact that the Empress was handing all the hardest tasks off to the Heroes. It was a given, really; they knew the most about the Black Mage and his techniques because they had fought him before. The second most reliable for such information was the ex-general, Vala, but no one really trusted her yet. So for the time being, the tough jobs went to the Heroes. So Luminous definitely had an excuse to look so harassed.

Right at the moment, though, he was staring at Phantom as if the man had two heads.

"What in the unholy hell are you doing in my house."

Yep. This was going just as swimmingly as he expected. It was only bound to get better, too, as Phantom didn't really have an explanation. So he just gave the mage the smarmiest expression he could muster up, and said "Well, I figured I should pay my GOOD OL' FRIEND Luminous a visit."

Luminous was silent. Then he crouched down next to Lania and instructed the young girl to go to her room. She nodded uneasily, retreating towards the back room with Penny following after her. The cat gave Phantom an angry hiss before disappearing behind the oak door. It shut softly and Luminous finally turned to the other man. He looked pretty upset, though Phantom could see a trace of confusion in his mismatched eyes as well. It was understandable. None of the other Heroes had tried to contact him, and now that one of them WAS…it was the one who constantly teased him and picked fights with him.

"So Luminous. You wanna explain the little kid and why she calls you 'Papa', or should I just make assumptions?" Phantom asked, not intended to sound as rude as he did. He supposed it didn't really matter, though. Luminous tended to assume the worst out of him either way. But the uncomfortable look the silver haired man gave him was discontenting. "No, seriously. Why are you living with a kid who acts like you're her dad? ARE you her dad?"

"It's complicated."

"No, it's not. You either are her parent or you're not." Phantom retorted. Luminous sent him an exhausted look; he clearly didn't want to go into it now. But the thief wasn't about to give him any choice. "Just answer the question, Luminous."

"I'm not her blood father, no." Luminous sighed.

"Ah. So that's the case. Explains why she doesn't always refer to you as a parent, then." Phantom mused. "So what, did you just find her?"

"Actually, she found me. I woke up somewhere in Ellinia after I fought the Black Mage." Luminous shot an accusing glance at the thief, who ignored the obvious provocation. "I must have been out for some time…maybe I was frozen, like the rest of you. I don't really know. All I knew was that there was a little girl in front of me, without parents, and I didn't have anything to take care of anymore. So I stayed with her."

"Hummh…so can I ask you something? One more thing?"

"…Well, I know you will anyways, so just do it."

"She mentioned something about someone named 'Lucia'." Phantom said carefully. Luminous' guard seemed to immediately go up. "And how she was her, but wasn't her. She kind of…well, she pretty much flat out said she was alive 300 years ago. I'm going to assume you will tell me the truth here. Exactly what is she?"

"…I can't tell you the whole truth here. It'd be too detrimental to both myself and everyone else that the whole story be known." Luminous sighed. Phantom quirked an eyebrow but didn't push the issue. "But…back before I was in the Heroes, 'Lania' was 'Lucia'. She was killed by the Black Mage…but for the most part, she and the monks of Harmony raised me."

"And now you're raising her."

"More or less."

"Well isn't that just sweet."

"Did she really say she…was and wasn't?"

"…Yeah, but she broke off the conversation from there. It's pretty obvious she doesn't trust me, but hey, she has good reason. I'm a weird stranger." Phantom chuckled. "I think I get what she means, though. When did she find out she was Lucia?"

"Only recently."

"Mmh. Yeah, that's why. She doesn't see herself as much as 'Lucia' as she does 'Lania' because the past 12 or so years have been 'Lania'." Phantom smiled briefly. "She sees what YOU were raising her as before she sees how 'Lucia' was raised. Reincarnation or not…environment has a lot to do with how a kid grows. How they conduct themselves. There are some base traits, of course, but it looks like she relates more to how she was raised in THIS life. Which is understandable. I guess, though, it just means you're a good parent?"

"A good parent?"

"Sure. She seems like a well-mannered, smart kid." Phantom mused. "And if she related to 'Lania' and calls you 'Papa', then I'm sure you're responsible for—"

"She called me that?"

"…Well, yeah. When I met her at the door, she called you Papa Luminous." Phantom chuckled. "It's better than BOYFRIEND Luminous, isn't it?"

Luminous made a face. "Please don't make that kind of crass joke. That's not how it is and you know it."

"Don't worry, 'Papa'!" Phantom laughed. "I know, and somehow, I think everyone else probably could figure it out too."

"…I suppose. I see she got you some tea." Luminous gestured listlessly at Phantom, and the thief looked down to the cup of hibiscus tea in his hands. The blonde shrugged non-committedly. "I'm surprised, really, that she just let you in like that. I've told her to be more careful and with the Black Mage around…I need to talk to her again. That's dangerous."

"Or she's the best judge of character."

Luminous stared blankly at him for a moment then snorted derisively. "I highly doubt that if she trusted you enough to let you in…you're not exactly the most SUBTLE looking person, you know."

"Oh come now, you know we're just the greatest of friends. You trust me so much."

"Shut up, Phantom." Luminous groaned. "You're giving me a headache."

"Then have some tea." Phantom handed his cup to the mage and he took it, eyes suspicious. "Don't give me that look. I can't drink any more of it. She must have put at least half a bag of sugar in it. Not really my sort of drink."

"Oh dear, not this again…" Luminous groaned, putting the cup down on the table without taking as much as a sip. "She made it on her own, didn't she?"

"Yeah. She offered to make tea and I couldn't exactly turn her down."

"Mmh. Well, I have something you should keep in mind. Never let Lania cook on her own. She's fine when someone is helping her, but when left to her own devices…well, she just pretty much makes what she thinks would be best." Luminous groaned. "And unfortunately, what she thinks is best is buckets of sugar."

"Sweet tooth?"

"Sort of."

"…I have two questions left for you, Luminous." Phantom said abruptly. He didn't wait for confirmation from the mage. "One, how safe is it to keep this girl in your presence? I mean, I've heard…things. I've heard you've been having trouble with your power." He gestured to Luminous' eye. "…With the Black Mage's powers. You could hurt that girl, you know. And you could hurt her badly. I know that you probably feel warmly towards her, like she's your own child, but…"

"That's why I'm not here as often." Luminous interrupted. "I've left guardians and barriers here to keep her safe from the Blackwings, but I've also been keeping away from the house. She and Vieren don't know about that, of course. It's easy to hide my secondary reasoning because I have to do so much Alliance work and Hero work. But part of my reasoning for staying away from the house is so that doesn't happen again."

"AGAIN?" Phantom asked sharply.

"…I don't want to talk about it. Something bad happened." Luminous admitted. Phantom wanted to push the issue, but the mage didn't let him. "You had another question?"

"….Well…I…" Phantom hesitated. "…I wasn't thinking of it when I came here. I honestly don't know why I came here. But…listening to you, and seeing that kid…look. I think that we've all been apart too long. The Heroes, I mean. You, me, Mercedes, Aran, and…that kid that's inherited Freud's namesake of 'Dragon Master'. I don't think being apart is going to do this world any good."

"That's awfully moralistic of you." Luminous remarked. Phantom shrugged.

"I won't lie and say it has nothing to do with personal gain." He said absentmindedly. "I do, to some extent, still put my revenge before I put care about this world. But if I really think about it…if the world is destroyed and all that nonsense, I really would be out of a career. It would be far more beneficial for all of us to work together, for whatever our reasons may be. Mine just happens to be what you would consider selfish."

"…Yeah, you haven't changed too much."

"Too much?"

"Maybe a little."

"…Nice to hear." Phantom gave the mage a genuine smile—something he did not do often. Luminous seemed slightly caught off guard, but gave a hesitant smile in return. It wasn't something the mage did particularly often. He was so serious, so stuffy. Smiling seemed awkward on his face, but it did make him look a lot more approachable. Phantom far preferred it to the venom filled glares he had received back 300 years ago. As harsh as it was…maybe having to see the other side of the coin via his curse was actually doing Luminous some GOOD. The man had always seen things in a very black-and-white way—now it seemed like he was being forced to see the grey area.

Phantom glanced over to the blonde child peeking out of her room carefully, big blue eyes curious. Luminous also had to care for this little child now…the thief figured that caring for someone like this was new on him. Perhaps Luminous really HAD changed. Perhaps he was growing as a person. Phantom wondered if he himself had grown at all too. Luminous HAD said 'maybe a little'…and Luminous never even came close to complimenting the blonde thief, so he figured it HAD to be true.

It was for the best, he figured. Looking around absentmindedly, he realized one thing about the scene was still bothering him. With a few quick thoughts, he realized it wasn't bothersome as much as amusing. So he turned back to the silver haired light mage again, smirk painted on his features again. A little teasing never hurt…it HAD been a bit of a hobby of his to mock Luminous back in the day.

"Though, I must say, Luminous…I never pegged you for such a HOUSEWIFE type."

As expected, the mage went bright red in embarrassment and fury.

Yeah…just like the good old days.

Except maybe it would be a little better.


End file.
